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Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
A pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement.
His philosophy (nonviolence) and leadership helped India gain independence.
Inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.
Often referred to as Mahatma (meaning Great Soul), and officially honored in India as the Father of the Nation. -
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Juan Perón
An Argentine military officer, and politician.
Elected as President of Argentina 3 times, but only served one full term.
Praised for efforts to eliminate poverty and to dignify labor, yet detractors accused him of being a demagogue and dictator.
Gave his name to the political movement known as peronismo, which is now represented mainly by the Justicialist Party. -
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World War I (The Great War)
Began due to assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.
Saw the first use of the machine gun.
Brought about the end of the Ottoman Empire.
Formed the base for WW!!, and the creation of the League of Nations. -
The Russian Revolution
Took down the Tsarist autocracy to form a provisional government.
Comprised of the February and October Revolutions.
Provisional Government was removed during the October Revolution, led by the Bolsheviks.
Led to the creation of the Soviet Union. -
Treaty of Versailles
Treaty that ended World War I.
Forced Germany to accept responsibility for starting the massive conflict.
Brought about the demilitarization of Germany.
Also forced Germany to release much of it's territory. -
Wilson's 14 Point Plan
Woodrow Wilson's plan to prevent anything like WWI from every occuring again.
Well accepted by Europe, however not liked by the US.
Laid the basis for the creation of the League of Nations.
Ended up being only partially used, and not according to design. -
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Nelson Mandela
The first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election.
An anti-apartheid activist, and leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, (armed wing of the African National Congress).
Arrested and sentenced to life in prison. Mandela served 27 years.
Led his party in the negotiations that led to multi-racial democracy. -
Creation of the League of Nations
Formed after WWI in the Paris Peace Conference.
Designed to prevent an event like WWI from ever occuring again.
Suggested by a US president, however, not accepted by the US.
Ineffective, did nothing to prevent WWII. -
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The Chinese Civil War
Bloodiest civil war in recorded history.
Fought between the KMT/Chinese Nationalist Party, the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China (CPC) for control of China.
Interrupted temporarily during the Second Sino-Japanese War, but continued immediately after.
Led to China's division into the Republic of China (known as Taiwan) and People's Republic of China (Mainland China). -
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Stalin's First Five Year Plan
Concentrated on the development of iron and steel, machine-tools, electric power and transport.
An attempt to force Russia into becoming an industrial power.
Made Russia militarily and industrially self-sufficient.
Included the creation of kolkhoz, collective farming systems, which destroyed the kulak class. -
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The Great Depression
A severe worldwide economic depression in the decade before World War II.
Did not effect all countries immediately, but it did eventually effect them simultaneously.
Had massive, devastating effects, in all countries, rich and poor.
Originated in the US after massive collapse of the Stock Market (Black Tuesday). -
Beginning of Hitler's rise to power
Rose to power in Germany because of the weak state it was in after WWI.
Hitler and the Nazi party primarily attracted members of the middle and lower class.
Appointed Chancellor in 1933.
Very charismatic, and led many people to believe him to be the savior of Germany. -
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Stalin's Second Five Year Plan
Gave heavy industry top priority, placing the Soviet Union as one of the major steel-producing countries of the world.
Communications, especially railways, became faster.
Also not uniformly successful.
Political persecutions shifted into high gear, leading to the Great Purge. -
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Stalin's Third Five Year Plan
Concentrated on armaments, tanks and weapons, and constructing additional military factories.
12% to 13% rate of annual industrial growth in the Soviet Union.
Ended when the Soviets entered WWII.
High rate of growth was continued after World War II, until it's eventual decline in the 50s. -
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World War II
Included all of the great power, forming two opposing military alliances, the Allies and the Axis.
Involved the majority of the world's nations.
Began with Germany's invasion of Poland, and violation of Belgium.
Witnessed the Holocaust and the first known case of human genocide.
Ended with Allies victory, and led to the creation of the United Nations, an improved, functional version of the League of Nations. -
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Mao Zedong
A Chinese revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, poet, political theorist, and leader of the Chinese Revolution.
Founder of the People's Republic of China.
He is officially held in high regard in China as savior of the nation.
Many campaigns led by him, such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, are blamed for millions of deaths, causing severe famine and damage to the culture, society and economy of China. -
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Stalin's Fourth Five Year Plan
Focused on reconstruction after WWII.
Stalin promised the USSR would be a leader in industry by 1960.
Hindered by mass labor shortages, due to casualties of WWII.
Relatively unsuccessful on most fronts. -
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Indian Independence and Partitioning of Pakistan
Viscount Louis Mountbatten announced the partitioning of the British Indian Empire into India and Pakistan.
On 14 August 1947, Pakistan was declared a separate nation from India at 11:57.
At 12:02 midnight, on 15 August 1947, India became an independent nation.
Led to a many violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims. -
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Cold War
Period of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World and the Western world.
Led to a massive nuclear arms race.
Also began the Space Race.
Many shifts between lax and tension filled periods, such as the Berlin Blockade, Vietnam War, Cuban Missle Crisis, and the Soviet War in Afghanistan. -
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NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
An intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty.
Constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in case of outside attack.
The Cold War forced the alliance to develop concrete military plans in order to resist any potential aggression from Communist countries.
First use of collective defense was in response to the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. -
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The Great Leap Foward
An economic /social campaign of the Communist Party of China that aimed to use China's massive population to transform the nation into a world power (think 5 Year Plan, on a much bigger scale).
Led by Mao Zedong.
A relative disaster, highly unsuccessful.
Led to mass mobilization of people, and millions of Chinese deaths. -
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Korean War
Mmilitary conflict between South Korea, supported by the UN, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China.
A result of the physical division of Korea by an agreement of the Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War during World War II.
The Korean War was a proxy war, and an event of the Cold War.
Led to the creation of A DMZ between North and South Korea. -
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Stalin's Fifth Five Year Plan
Disagreements over US-USSR loans led to rapid escalation of the Cold War.
Still focused on reconstruction, mostly in the Ukraine, which was severely devastated by WWII.
Food rationing had ended, yet agriculture was still in poor condition.
Industrial levels were twice as high as 1940 in 1952. -
Period: to
Warsaw Pact
A mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe.
Created as a Communist Bloc/Soviet response to the formation of NATO.
Essentially made to prevent the recurrence of an invasion of Russian soil, leading to a mass loss of life.
Had many proxy conflicts with NATO (particularly between the USSR and USA). -
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Vietnam War
Cold War era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia until the fall of Saigon.
Fought between North Vietnam, (supported by communists) and the government of South Vietnam (supported by the U.S. and other anti-communist nations).
Mass casualties and lack of public support led to end of US involvement.
Unsuccessful US support, led to reunification of Vietnam and conversion to a communist nation. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Attempt by a CIA force of Cuban exiles and the U.S. to invade southern Cuba.
Goal was to overthrow the Cuban governemnt of Fidel Castro.
Done due to American feelings of fear of a close Communist government.
Invasion was unsuccessful. -
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The Berlin Wall
A barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany), completely cutting off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin.
Meant to prevent corruptiono of the people's will by facist elements.
In reality, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection.
The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification between Russia owned East and Ally owned West. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in during the Cold War.
Started due to construction of bases in Cuba with ballistic nuclear missiles with the ability to strike most of the continental United States.
Kennedy administration demanded the USSR to back out of the plan.
Naval forces surrounded Cuba and forced the construction of the nuclear weapons to cease. -
Helsinki Accords
Recognized the borders of Europe and of the Soviet Union.
The final act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Thirty-five states( USA, Canada, and all European states except Albania and Andorra) signed the declaration in order to improve relations between the Communist bloc and the West.
A significant step toward reducing Cold War tensions. -
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Islamic Revolution
The overthrow of Iran's monarchy and its replacement with an Islamic republic.
Began with the opposition of the Shi'i against the Shah
Lacked many of the customary causes of revolution.
Essentially reversed socio-political progress in Iran. -
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Iran-Iraq War
An armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran.
Longest conventional war of the twentieth century.
Began when Iraq invaded Iran, due to border disputes and fear of civil disruption.
Iraq's attempt at becoming the dominant force in the Perisan Gulf. -
Tiananmen Square (June Fourth Incident)
Series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China.
Used mainly non-violent methods.
Led by intellectuals and students.
The government responded by sending tanks and troops of the People's Liberation Army moved into the streets of Beijing, using live fire to clear Tiananmen Square of protestors. -
German Reunification
Triggered by the fall of the Berlin Wall.
West and East Germany agree as to what powers shall be in control in the government, thus setting up a stable system of politics.
Germany now thought of as a post-classical democratic national state.
"Two Plus Four Treaty" granted full sovereignty to a unified German state. -
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Dissolution of the USSR
Process of systematic disintegration, which occurred in its economy, social structure and political structure.
Resulted in independence of the USSR's republics.
Caused by the weakening of the Soviet Union's government.
Marked the end of the Cold War. -
September 11, 2001
A series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States.
Coordinated by terrorist Leader Osama bin Laden.
Main reason for the starting of the War on Terror.
Did massive economic damage on an international level, effecting mostly the US.